Munder Capital could merge with Victory Capital of Ohio, report says

New York-based Crestview Partners LP may be merging Birmingham-based Munder Capital Management with another of its portfolio companies, Victory Capital Management Inc. of Brooklyn, Ohio, according to peHub.com, a website about the private equity industry published by Thomson Reuters.

Last November, a proposed sale of Munder, a money-management firm, was called off after offers fell short of expectations.

According to published reports then, Crestview Partners had hoped to sell the company for as much as $400 million, or about 10 times EBIDTA (earnings before interest, depreciations, taxes and amortization), but only got offers for as much as seven times EBIDTA, about $280 million.

“The two platforms do overlap, and it would probably be a stronger company combined,” one banker source told peHUB in a report published Monday about the possible merger.

Victory manages or advises more than $18 billion for its clients, according to the firm’s website. It was acquired from Key Bank last year for $246 million.

Crestview bought Munder from Comerica Inc. in 2006 for $302 million. Munder and its affiliates have about $18.1 billion under management, down from $25.1 billion at the time of the sale.

Executives at Crestview declined comment to peHub.

In 2010, Munder President James FitzGerald told Crain’s that the firm was embarking on an aggressive growth campaign to double its assets to $15 billion after the recession, to $30 billion in three years and $45 billion in five years, but that campaign fizzled.

Munder has a policy against commenting about a possible sale or stories in the media about a sale.

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